Akston Biosciences Corp.

NORTHWICH, England & BEVERLY, Mass.--( BUSINESS WIRE )--Dechra Limited, a global specialist veterinary pharmaceuticals and related products business, and Akston Biosciences Corporation, dedicated to accelerating the biologics revolution in Animal Health, today announces Dechra’s purchase of all Akston’s interests in the companies’ dog and cat long-acting insulin programs. Dechra’s purchase gives it ownership of the intellectual property and rights for the development, manufacturing, and worldwide commercialization of both programs. For its interests, Akston receives an upfront cash payment, fees to support technology transfer, and near-term milestone payments based on the program's development progress. The companies signed a licensing and supply agreement in August 2019 for the co-development and commercialization of a long-acting insulin for the treatment of diabetes in dogs, which Akston invented, and a similar agreement for the treatment of diabetes in cats in February 2021. “Dechra is enthusiastic about commercializing these once-a-week insulin therapies for treating dog and cat diabetes,” said Patrick Meeus, DVM, PhD, DACVM, Chief Scientific Officer of Dechra. “The acquisition of these breakthrough programs is a great example of Dechra’s commitment to improving animal health and welfare through innovation. We thank Akston for all their hard work and dedication in helping us bring these innovative products closer to reality.” “The sale of our interests in these programs is the culmination of years of product development from the selection and optimization of lead candidates to successful proof-of-concept studies in diabetic dogs and cats, and finally to process development, GMP manufacturing, and scale-up to commercial production levels.” said Todd Zion, PhD, President & CEO of Akston Biosciences. “We look forward to Dechra taking these programs through late-stage clinical trials and commercial introduction while Akston focuses on developing our strong pipeline of Animal Health product candidates in obesity, cancer, chronic pain, and atopic dermatitis.” Stifel acted as exclusive financial advisor to Akston Biosciences with respect to this transaction. Legal counsel to Akston Biosciences included Goodwin Procter LLP and Hovey Williams LLP. About Dechra Limited Dechra Limited is a subsidiary of Dechra Pharmaceuticals Limited (the Dechra Group). The Dechra Group is a global veterinary pharmaceuticals and related products business. Our expertise is in the development, manufacture, and sales and marketing of high quality products exclusively for veterinarians worldwide. The majority of Dechra’s products are focused on key therapeutic categories where we have leading market positions, and many of our products are used to treat medical conditions for which there is no other effective solution or have a clinical or dosing advantage over competitor products. For more information, please visit: www.dechra.com About Akston Biosciences Akston Biosciences Corporation is dedicated to accelerating the biologics revolution in Animal Health by in-licensing, inventing, developing, and manufacturing breakthrough protein therapeutics for veterinary use. Its vertically integrated capabilities, including a kilogram-scale cGMP manufacturing facility dedicated to Animal Health, can significantly reduce the time and cost from discovery to commercial introduction. Akston leverages its Ambifect® Fc-fusion protein platform to create innovative, extended-duration biologics and therapeutic vaccines. Its facilities are located in Beverly, Mass. Additional information is available at www.akstonbio.com .

BEVERLY, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Akston Biosciences Corporation, dedicated to accelerating the biologics revolution in Animal Health, today announced the appointment of Linda Rhodes, VMD, PhD to its Board of Directors. Dr. Rhodes brings Akston thirty years of experience in the animal health industry as a scientist, senior executive, and board member. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: Industry veteran Linda Rhodes, VMD, PhD, joins Akston Biosciences' Board of Directors. She brings deep "experience in how to accelerate high quality drug development in a small company environment," said Todd Zion, PhD, president & CEO of Akston. (Photo: Business Wire) Last month, Dr. Rhodes retired from the Board of Directors of Zoetis, Inc., having served there since 2017. She was the founding CEO of Aratana Therapeutics, where she grew the company, and led the development and FDA approval of three drugs in five years — Galliprant, Entyce and Nocita. When the company became publicly traded, she assumed the role of Chief Scientific Officer. In 2001, she founded AlcheraBio, a contract research firm dedicated to helping bring new animal drugs to market, which was acquired by Argenta in 2008. She served on the Board of the Alliance for Contraception in Cats and Dogs from 2008-2023. As a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Michelson Prize and Grants, Dr. Rhodes has worked to facilitate the discovery of a single injection treatment for the permanent sterilization of male and female dogs and cats. She earned her veterinary degree from the University of Pennsylvania, and her PhD in reproductive endocrinology from Cornell. In 2017, she founded Feather in Her Cap, an organization dedicated to recognizing high-achieving women in the Animal Health industry. Two years later, Dr. Rhodes was honored by the Animal Health Corridor (AHC) with the Iron Paw Award for lifetime achievement in animal health. Dr. Rhodes said, “I enjoy working with early-stage companies that have innovative solutions for animal health unmet needs. Akston combines a track record of inventing pioneering new therapies with the in-house capabilities critical to successful development to commercial manufacturing. I look forward to helping Akston leverage cutting-edge science to bring its products rapidly to market.” “Akston is dedicated to accelerating the pace of innovation in animal health, building on our ultra-long acting dog and cat insulins that we licensed to Dechra Pharmaceuticals,” said Todd Zion, PhD, President & CEO of Akston Biosciences. “Linda’s experience in how to accelerate high quality drug development in a small company environment will be valuable as we develop our crop of new candidates.” About Akston Biosciences Akston Biosciences Corporation is dedicated to accelerating the biologics revolution in Animal Health by inventing, developing, and manufacturing breakthrough protein therapeutics for veterinary use. Its vertically integrated capabilities, including a kilogram-scale cGMP manufacturing facility dedicated to Animal Health, can significantly reduce the time and cost from discovery to commercial introduction. Akston leverages its Ambifect® Fc-fusion protein platform to create innovative, extended-duration biologics and therapeutic vaccines. Its facilities are located in Beverly, Mass. Additional information is available at .

BEVERLY, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Akston Biosciences, dedicated to accelerating the next revolution in Animal Health, announced the publication in Frontiers in Immunology of a study on AKS-107, an innovative antigen-specific immunotherapy based on Akston's Ambifect® Fc-fusion protein platform. The study demonstrated AKS-107's potential to target and delete insulin-specific B cells, which are implicated in the development of Type 1 Diabetes (T1D). Fc-fusion proteins based on this platform can be designed to interact only with parts of the immune system related to the target disease while minimizing off-target effects. AKS-107 is a human IgG1 Fc-fusion protein engineered to retain conformational insulin epitopes that bind to B cell receptors while preventing binding to the insulin metabolic receptor. The study conducted in non-obese diabetic (NOD) mice and insulin-reactive B cell receptor transgenic mouse strains showed that AKS-107 can safely prevent spontaneous diabetes, demonstrating durable immune tolerance. Studies have shown that AKS-107 has a protracted pharmacokinetic pro was well-tolerated in both mice and non-human primates, making it a promising candidate for clinical development in T1D prevention settings. "Akston has confirmed the versatility of the Ambifect® platform across diverse treatment areas, including extended duration insulin therapies, infectious disease vaccines, and, with AKS-107, interrupting an autoimmune cascade," said Todd Zion, Ph.D., President & CEO of Akston Biosciences. “We are now exploring its application to therapeutic vaccination, where the immune system is recruited to target proteins involved in non-communicable diseases," he added. “Using a common platform allows Akston to reduce development time and manufacturing costs across its entire pipeline.” As part of its renewed focus on Animal Health, Akston recently spun out all applications for human T1D prevention and treatment, including AKS-107 for disease prevention and AKS-440, its once-a-week basal insulin therapy. Akston also spun out all human clinical vaccine applications with lead candidates targeting misfolded proteins involved in neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer’s and infectious diseases including Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Dengue fever. Regarding its Animal Health applications, Akston is partnered with Dechra Pharmaceuticals PLC to commercialize canine and feline ultra-long insulins. The company is also advancing lead therapeutic vaccines against nerve growth factor for chronic pain and IL-31 for atopic dermatitis. About Akston Biosciences: Akston Biosciences Corporation is dedicated to accelerating the next revolution in Animal Health by inventing, developing, and manufacturing breakthrough protein therapeutics for veterinary use. Its vertically integrated capabilities, including a kilogram-scale cGMP manufacturing facility dedicated to Animal Health, can significantly reduce the time and cost from discovery to commercial introduction. Akston leverages its Ambifect® Fc-fusion protein platform to create innovative, extended-duration biologics and therapeutic vaccines. Its facilities are located in Beverly, Mass. Additional information is available at akstonbio.com.